Merry Christmas from Dubai!

Mum and dad were visiting us from Malaysia ... so we took them to Dubai for the weekend :-)

We had a nice brunch at Dubai Mall's Social House - It was decorated very nicely in a yuletide fashion, and there was even a christmas menu :-)

We then took some free snappies outside Dubai Aquarium which is the flagship of Dubai Mall :-) Wonder if the Eagle Ray (Or mini Manta?) and sharks knew it was Christmas week!

We then went to Mall of Emirates - An interesting chair exhibition, contributed by local artists :-)

Tiffany and Co occupied the centre atrium with what I thought was a bit un-Tiffany like, with a "stall" ... Heh heh! Anyway, the tree was pretty and best of all was the Tiffany wreath!

 Tiffany blue :-)

 

More christmas festivities at MOE - Mall of Emirates ;-) Not the Ministry of Education!

Ski Dubai ... where it snows all year round :-)

Anyway .... Merry Christmas and lots of love and blessings from Abu Dhabi to those near and far. See you all in 2013!

Royal China - Tim Sum lunch at DIFC, Dubai

Location: DIFC, Building 4 - Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai
Tel: +971 4 354 5543
Number of persons: 9 adults, 4 children, 2 babies

Total bill: 1,274 AED
Bill with tax: 1,400 AED (RM$1,100 or RM$122 per adult)

Expensive, not the nicest of ambience (It was too warm!), and they lost our reservation (Not a good way to start a meal!!) ... service was average too. Overall, not the best of experiences, and the food was simply average as well, not up to its London HQ's standards!

Water (Aqua Panna), 25 AED

Peking duck (Whole), 260 AED

Duck two-way (Qty = 3, that's preparing a lettuce rub duck from the meat-bits of the duck, after the skin was served in pancakes ... OUCH!), 105 AED

 Prawn dumplings, 28 AED

Char siew pao (Barbecue chicken of course), 28 AED (That's RM$7.50 per pao!!!)

Dry scallop Cheong Fun with Yau char kuey "Char cheong", 30 AED

Pan fried chicken buns, 28 AED

Glutinous rice in Lotus leaf, 25 AED

 
Pan fried fish cake, 28 AED
Minced fish congee "chuk"/porridge, 20 AED

Baked barbecue chicken pastry, 30 AED

Chicken with cashew nuts, 55 AED

Steamed rice, 12 AED (RM$10!)Special fried rice - Lotus leaf Royal China-style, 60 AED

Sing chau chau-mai "Singapore fried vermicelli", 48 AED

Stir fried beef hor-fun with Black bean sauce, 48 AED

AND ...

Organic Pu-er Tea - 2007 vintage!! (Per pot, 30 AED), they charged us 1 pot per couple or 120 AED worth of tea ... That's RM$100 worth of tea for us 9 adults. YOUCH!

Dubai Mall - Lego, Aquarium and TWG

We were at Dubai Mall over the weekend, and look what I spotted at On The Top, a Lego Architecture set! Didn't realise that Lego had launched this series ... Nice!

What does 10 million litres of water look like? Have you ever seen a whale-shark IN a mall!? Look no further ... it is the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall.

Cool facts from dubaifaqs.com ... Tank dimension 51 x 20 x 11 meters, Perspex acrylic viewing panel size of 32.8m width x 8.3m height, over 30,000 aquatic animals (unless the big fish get hungry) including 400 sharks and rays with over 85 different species of fish and other sea creatures, the thickness of aquarium acrylic is 75 cm (Wow!), and the water temperature is kept at a constant 24 Celsius.

We were lucky enough to see a diver in full action, whilst viewing from the free vantage point outside. For the pleasure of entering, it would cost an adult ...  25 AED (Tunnel), 50 AED (Tunnel and Zoo), 75 AED (Glass-bottom boat), or 625 or 825 AED to swim with the sharks.

Oooh ... Nice tea-house!

Cafe: 1837 TWG Tea

Tel: +971 4 325 3857
Described in Dubai Mall's website ... TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, welcomes you to its Tea Salon. TWG Tea has created a distinguished tea-infused gastronomy using the world’s greatest single harvests and exclusive tea blends. Step into an oasis for the senses, tantalise your palate with a unique cuisine and indulge in handmade patisseries, all prepared fresh daily. 

We also spotted a quaint wooden figurine shop on one of the top floors ... Bartolucci of Italy.

Shoe Addicts Welcome - Scarpe, Dubai Mall

For those who love shoes ....

Scarpe, The Shoe District - Due to open in Dubai Mall in August 2012.

Range Rover Evoque - Abu Dhabi to Dubai highway

First seen at the Abu Dhabi International Motorshow 2010 in 15 months ago ... Its even better looking in the flesh!


Land Rover Range Rover Evoque ... Dhs 235,000 - 255,000 (Roughly, 190K - 200K RM here in the UAE), from Drivearabia.com.
A Ford-derived 4-cylinder engine (turbocharged and mated to a 6-speed automatic with tiptronic functionality via paddle-shifters - Pumps out 240 BHP) powers this vehicle to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds, with a top speed of 217 km/h. Hardly impressive, but I guess its more about the style!!

Dome Cafe - Ibn Battuta, Dubai

On our first visit to Ibn Battuta mall, just down the road from Jebel Ali in Dubai. Funny ... I always remembered the coffee to be more memorable, the iced cappucino I had was simply mediocre. But ... the Garlic chicken with Rice was diabolically bad. Dry, tasteless, worse then airline food!


Redeeming dishes ... Don't know what RF's dish on the left was, but my Thai Green Curry was better. Not perfect, but better! Worse of all ... meal wasn't cheap too. 160 AED for the 3 of us, sorry for the crap meal RF!

Ibn Battuta Mall - Our first visit, Dubai

Located: Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, close to Interchange 6 for Jebel Ali Village. Builder/Owner: Nakheel Properties group, 2005
GPS (Wikipedia): 25°02′40″N , 55°07′14″E


The mall is named after Berber Moroccan famous traveller and explorer Ibn Battuta. It is split into six main courts - China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia.


Another galleon ... what big displays!


Ibn Battuta Mall boasts the only IMAX theatre in the country and also offers a 21-screen Cinema Megaplex, located in the China Court.

Sarai - The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence Dubai

Farewell dinner for IC in Dubai ... at Jumeirah Beach Residence one evening.


Sarai was a great find, we stumbled on-to this place as we were walking along The Walk ... Saw too many "repeat" and boring restaurants, but at one end of The Walk (close to Hilton), we found Sarai. It did not dissapoint, great food!

Add: Ground Floor, Bahar Sector, The Walk, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Near Oasis Beach Tower, Dubai.

Tel: +971 4 4380640

Taboulleh .. and Baba Ghanoush ... so yummy!

Described as Syrian, Armenian and Turkish food ... In fact, the name Sarai has Turkish origins and means Castle. Great decor, good food, well priced ... we like this place! Delicious unlimited bread, nice and warm ...


We chose 2 different varieties of kebabs (Kebab arab, and Kebab sarai I think) and they were both really delicious ... About 40 - 60 AED per main dish.

Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo - Dubai Mall

Free view of the Dubai Aquarium, at the Dubai Mall ... I took these shots without paying the entrance fee :-)

It seems ... Dubai Mall's aquarium was designed to hold 33,000 living creatures, representing more than 85 species including over 400 sharks and rays combined.

A huge eagle-ray? :-)